Grocery store chain Hannaford Bros. Co. has been named 'Recycler of the Year' by the Recycling Committee at Regional Waste Systems (RWS), Portland, Maine, a non-profit solid waste corporation owned by 27 communities in that state. RWS operates the state’s largest municipal recycling program
According to RWS Recycling Committee chair Carol Fritz, Hannaford Bros. Co., Scarsborough, Maine, is one of the private sector’s most innovative recyclers. The retailer operates 46 supermarkets and two large distribution centers in Maine. Fritz presented the award to Ted Brown, Hannaford’s environmental affairs manager, at the RWS annual meeting in mid-July.
Each year, the RWS committee honors an individual, group or corporation that has increased or improved recycling in southern Maine. The committee was impressed by the success of Hannaford’s corporate recycling program. Hannaford has led the food industry in recycling its waste for many years, and in 2001 achieved a 65 percent recycling rate at its Maine facilities, a new high for the company.
“Hannaford truly is one of the most innovative companies around when it comes to developing and implementing creative and effective ways to maximize recycling,” says Fritz. “Their efforts are truly astounding. Hannaford deserves our recognition.”
The retailer encourages customers to reuse bags by providing a five-cent refund-for-reuse of fabric bags and a two-cent refund for each reuse of plastic or paper bags. Each year, tens of thousands of bags are reused by Hannaford customers, helping to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills and incinerators. Hannaford customers in Maine also have purchased more than 100,000 fabric bags in Hannaford supermarkets, earning refunds every time they re-use them.
Hannaford also is continuing to look at ways to expand its successful corporate organics diversion program. Any Maine store that participates in the company’s composting program will see its recycling rate jump to more than 90 percent annually, Hannaford officials said.
The grocery chain is also the only company in New England, and one of two nationally, that recovers waxed corrugated cardboard from all its supermarkets. In addition, Hannaford is the only supermarket in the country to offer its customers plastic bags made from more than 50 percent post-consumer recycled plastic.
“Hannaford is committed to reducing its waste through creative recycling initiatives,” says Brown. “We appreciate receiving this recognition from RWS, which plays such an important role in recycling throughout the region.”